What the Hell is Happening To Me!
by lefthandedgamergal
Summary: Mario has always been my favourite gaming franchise, hands-down. I just NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS thought I would be the SISTER of one of my favourite video game characters of ALL TIME! Oh, yeah, and I think I'm in LOVE with one of BOWSER'S children! Could my life get ANY crazier? Rated T for some bad language. OC fic.
1. Chapter 1

**HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYY! This is my very first fic on my account, so I'M ACTUALLY REALLY FRAGGIN NERVOUS RIGHT NOW. COULD YOU TELL?! Oh, er, sorry, am I a bit insane? Yeah, I get that a lot, even I admit it. Flames are fine, just NO PROFANITY, YOU HEAR ME?! **  
**Er, sorry, insanity kicking in again. PLEASE ENJOY! (and if you don't, oh well, you don't have to finish if you don't want to) Also, I think the title isn't that good, so if you have any suggestions, please suggest them! King George and Queen Melody belong to nintendrawer and koji/saiiko. R&R PLEASE! THANK YOU AND HAVE A WONDERFUL AND MAGICAL AND AMAZING DAY!**

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**Prologue: The Lost Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom**

In the Mushroom Kingdom, the Mushroom Queen and King, King George and Queen Melody, gave birth to a baby girl. They named the child Stella Toadstool. The entire kingdom rejoiced, but there was none happier than the King and Queen's beautiful sixteen-year-old daughter, Princess Peach Toadstool. There was total peace throughout the entire kingdom up until the infant was a week old.

While the Mushroom Kingdom was celebrating, however, others were plotting. Seventeen-year-old King Bowser Koopa and his Koopa Troop were plotting to invade the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnap Princess Peach in order to marry her.  
The flaw in that plan, however, was that neither Bowser nor the Koopa Troop knew that a princess had been born less than a week ago.

They carried out their plan, though, and at night, while the kingdom slept, the Koopa Troop burst in with tremendous force followed by Bowser, in his Koopa Clown Car, literally destroying everything, and everyone, in their way, including King George and Queen Melody. While Bowser was flying around, looking for Peach, the princess, with a somehow-calm Stella in her arms and two of her Mushroom Retainers by her side, fled the castle under previous instruction from her parents, and silently made her way to a hidden cave in which she would play as a young girl.

Little did they know, Bowser had been circling the castle and had spotted them and was hovering silently behind them.  
Right when they reached the cave, Bowser grabbed Peach and flew off with her screaming, Stella having started crying, and the Mushroom Retainers running after them, but it was no use. Bowser and the princesses were long gone into the night, and with a mighty roar from Bowser, everything was silent once again.

At Bowser's Castle, Bowser found out who the baby was, and separated her from Peach, much to Peach's protest. No matter how hard the princess pleaded, Bowser wouldn't return the infant. Without even Stella, Peach felt like all hope was lost. But the Super Mario Bros, Mario and Luigi, traveled through eight worlds, until they beat Bowser and freed the princesses. Peach was filled with happiness. That is, until they confronted Bowser after Mario and Luigi had freed Peach, for they had searched the whole castle and couldn't find Stella. Bowser confessed that the reason he never let Peach have Stella was because she'd disappeared. Just like that, without a trace. He'd searched the entire castle and couldn't find her. He'd panicked and lied to Peach. Peach was grief-stricken. Her parents were killed, and she wouldn't ever see her sister again...

Many search parties were sent out to try to find Princess Stella, but she was never found. Even today, almost fifteen years later, not a soul today knows where the Lost Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom is…

**Chapter 1: What the Hell is Going On?!**

It was raining hard one April afternoon as a noisy school bus was driving along a bumpy road, and teenage Chloe was talking animatedly to her friends, Lily and Brylee, in the very back seat of the bus.  
"I wish I didn't have to go to piano tonight. All I want to do is relax with some video games," said Chloe.  
"Seriously, you have to get over your obsession with video games, Chlo!" complained Lily.  
"It's not my fault I like video games! My dad loved playing them when he was a kid. He still likes playing them now! Besides, there are people much more obsessed than me!"  
"I still think you should get over it."  
"Hmph!"  
Chloe folded her arms, pouted and turned away in mock grumpiness.

Suddenly there was a huge crash and an enormous dent appeared on the top of the bus and the bus driver pulled the vehicle over.

"What the hell is going on?!" screamed someone two seats in front of them.  
CRASH!  
The bus driver ran over to the back and opened the emergency exit door and started getting everybody out. Kids were screaming in panic.  
"Guys?" whispered Chloe.  
"Yeah?" Lily squeaked, looking anxiously at Chloe.  
"What's gonna happen to us?"

Brylee answered, "I honestly have no idea, but just stick together, 'cause whatever that thing is, it's gonna have less of a problem with just one person."  
"You don't have to tell me twice." said Lily.  
"Just in case we don't make it through this, group hug?" said Chloe.  
"Alright."

They all did a big group hug, and they tried to get past the stream of terrified kids.  
CRASH!  
There was a gigantic hole in the top of the bus, and the thing spoke.  
"She's here. I feel it."  
He looked up and Chloe saw his face. He was- no, he couldn't be! He was a video game character! An epic video game character, but still a video game character!  
King Bowser Koopa was looking at Chloe, and she could tell he wanted her.

"He wants me. I know it. Help me, guys." Chloe whispered, terrified.

Lily and Brylee shielded her with their bodies, but he shoved them aside easily.

Chloe screamed as loud as she could, hoping that some miracle would save her. He grabbed hold of her wrist and wouldn't let go. Chloe kept on screaming and trying to pull away, and her friends were helping, but they were no match for Bowser. The last thing she saw was her friends, terrified, and trying to pull her away. Suddenly, everything was black…

She woke up, exhausted, on a bed in a strange room. She sat up, confused, then she remembered. She got up, circled the room, which contained only a bed, a bed-side table, a clock, a lamp and a desk and chair. There was also a small bathroom to the side. She tried the door, and to her surprise, it was unlocked. She peered out.

Empty hallway. She creeped out and tried to be as quiet as she could, while looking around. There was lava everywhere.

She suddenly bumped into something. She swerved around, terrified that she had bumped into a member of the Koopa Troop, but to her immense relief, it was only a wall, since she had reached the end of the hall. To her right, there was a door, and she could hear voices coming from it.  
Very carefully, she approached the door, turned the handle, and pushed the door open.  
"-ou really sure she's the girl we're look-"

A Shy Guy stopped speaking and looked embarrassed that he hadn't stopped speaking earlier. It seemed to be a meeting, consisting of Bowser, Kammy Koopa, Kamek, and two Shy Guys. Chloe knew they thought she looked strange in her bright orange t-shirt which read  
Santa Cruz Pipeline '82, her unzipped gray sweater, cyan velvet jeans, and bright darkish blue sneakers. She could tell that she was shaking.

"Why have you brought me here?" she asked, hoping she sounded less afraid than she felt.  
"How did you get out?!" asked Bowser in disbelief, eyeing her up and down.  
"The door was unlocked. Was it supposed to be locked?"  
"Yes!"  
"Oh. Anyway, that doesn't matter now. Answer my question. Why have you brought me here?"  
"You'll find out soon enough."  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Chloe was getting angrier by the second.  
"It means you'll find out soon enough! Geez! Go back to your room!"  
"You're not the boss of me." Chloe shot back. She could be a smart-ass when she wanted to.  
"Shut up! Go back to your room I said!  
"Whatever! Oh, and do you have any video games I could play to pass the time?"  
"No! Just go!"  
"Fine! But if you don't give me something to actually DO, you know I'll just keep bothering you about it later."  
"I said, go back. Now.  
"I said I'm going!  
Chloe added under her breath, "You little motherfuckin' oversized turtle…"  
"What was that?"  
"Nothing, nothing."

She headed back to her room and slammed the door shut, but not too hard. She heard the door lock behind her. She sighed and lay down on the bed. She suddenly realized how hungry she was. It had been a few hours at least since she last ate. Her stomach growled in protest.

She turned and looked at the desk and saw her backpack! She realized it must have gotten caught on Bowser's foot or something and Bowser had left it there. She went over to it and took out her lunch, hoping there was something left.

Sure enough, there was still half of her sandwich. She gobbled it down quicker than anything in her life, which was saying a lot.  
She thought about what the Shy Guy had said.  
"-ou really sure she's the girl we're look-"  
He had obviously meant,  
"Are you really sure she's the girl we're looking for?" But what did it mean? Why did they want her?  
As she thought hard on the bed, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

She had a strange dream. She dreamed that she was a baby, it was nighttime, there were screams and cries ringing in her ears, and she was in someone's arms. She looked up and saw a familiar face which she couldn't recognise. She was bouncing a little bit, since they were running.

All of a sudden, the person holding her was grabbed from behind and started screaming, which caused her to start crying in confusion and fear, and the person holding her lifted her up, so she could see her face. She saw that the person was-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

Chloe was awakened by knocking on the door to her room. She sat up, slightly irritated. She said grouchily,  
"What do you want?"  
The door opened and Kamek came in.  
"His Surliness wants you." Kamek obviously meant Bowser.  
"What for?"  
"That doesn't matter. Hurry, it's better not to keep him waiting!"  
"UUUGH! Fine!"

She reluctantly went with Kamek into the meeting room from earlier, but this time, the empty hallway wasn't empty anymore.  
There were Goombas and Koopa Troopas, Shy Guys, and the rest of Bowser's cronies. When she passed them, every time they would stop and stare at her with a bewildered expression, as if they recognized her, and were trying to remember where they had seen her before. When they reached the meeting room, Bowser was there, waiting. She approached him, glaring at him.

He said,  
"What? I kidnapped you for a reason, you know!"  
"Oh? And what reason would that be?" Chloe asked in mock curiosity, smirking.  
"I-I don't wanna tell you yet."  
"When will you tell me?!"  
He didn't answer.  
"Anyway, you're coming with me for a ride on my airships."  
"I'm NOT going on one of your airships! No! Frickin! Way!"  
"Well, you're coming anyway!"  
And he grabbed her arm, Chloe screamed, and suddenly there was only darkness again.

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**SO, DID YOU ENJ- oh, oops. Er, so, did you enjoy? If you didn't that's completely fine, just get out of here and read something else. Or, maybe YOU could write something. Yeah, I'm talking to you! Chapter 2 coming in a day or two! BUH-BYE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**HEYO!**  
** It's me again!**  
**I'm actually more nervous than before (have no idea why!) Maybe I'm worried that you won't think this chapter is as good as Chapter 1? That's probably it.**  
**I would like to thank tfplover14 and Elemental Queen for reviewing and brightening up my day SO MUCH! Your tips help like, you have no idea how much it helps! (I also have some of these chapters pre-written up to Chapter 7! (Yeah, I originally wrote this without the intent of ever posting, but then with the help of my wonderful, wonderful friend, tfplover14 (who I know personally) I became brave enough to post this! (thank you so much!) So I think you should start to see a BIG improvement in the writing around Chapter 3! So until then, you'll have to endure the crappiest crap ever that I call writing! (I'm the author so I have the right to call it crap) )**  
**Anyway, any review, good or bad, can help a writer go so much further! (so if you didn't pick up the hint, you should leave a review. just sayin.)**  
**And once again, I don't really like the title of this fic that much, so if you have suggestions, suggest them!**  
**Wow, I feel like that was way longer than it should've been, but I'm just REALLY JITTERY! And happy. And I feel really pressured.**  
**ANYWAAAAAAAY, flames are welcome, but NO. PROFANITY. Otherwise my mom will probably never let me use this site again. I'm being serious. She would do that kind of thing.**  
**R&R please!**  
**And of course, please remember to… (drum roll, please…) ENJOOOOOOOOY! (and if you don't, you don't have to finish reading and you can go read or write something else)**  
**(And one more thing which I meant to do last chapter:**  
**I DO NOT OWN SUPER MARIO! JEEZ! NINTENDO SHOULD KNOW THAT! No one should have to say that since Nintendo OBVIOUSLY owns Mario! I mean, come on, people!)**  
**(P.S., OMG THESE AUTHORS NOTES ARE WAY TOO LONG! I'M SO SORRY!)**  
**(P.P.S., I would've posted sooner, but tfplover14 was grounded for a week and I can't post without her (I know, this makes me look so lame, but I don't exactly know how to post on my own...).)**

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**Chapter 2: Still Alive**

It was a bright, sunny, peaceful morning in the Mushroom Kingdom, and Mario and Luigi were headed out to Peach's Castle, since Peach had invited them for a picnic in the castle grounds.  
She had just finished packing their picnic lunch and was waiting for their arrival.

Mario and Luigi were just passing through Toad Town when it happened.  
Black and purple clouds blocked out the sun and any trace of blue sky and airships flew in from all directions.

Peach ran out to the balcony and watched in horror as one of the airships got dangerously close to the castle and Bowser walked to the edge. But he didn't start talking to her right away for some odd reason. Instead he motioned to someone at the back to come up.  
A young girl slowly walked up to Bowser, looking terrified. Although Peach couldn't remember ever seeing her before, she looked somehow… familiar. When she lifted her head up to look at Peach, she noticed the girl's facial details.

The girl looked about fourteen, almost fifteen, had pixie-cut brown hair, and although Peach was about ten feet away from her, she could see that she had pretty brown eyes. Peach found that strange, since every human in the Mushroom Kingdom had blue eyes.  
It was when they looked into each other's eyes that it hit both of them at the exact same time. The girl was the Lost Princess Stella!

Chloe couldn't believe it. The memories came surging back. She, Chloe, who lived in a little-known town in Canada, be a princess of a video game land, the sister of Princess Peach?  
There was a sudden burning hatred for Bowser deep inside of her. He MURDERED her PARENTS! Frickin MURDERED them! WHY would he do that? What did her kingdom EVER actually DO to THEM? She found herself struggling against Bowser's strong grasp, but he was too strong.

Tears started running down her face, but she didn't even notice. She had to get to Peach. She _had_ to.

Mario and Luigi weren't up where Peach and that girl were, but they could see she was starting to cry. Even though they'd [BIG FAT SEEMINGLY] never met her before, they felt sorry for this girl, who was obviously extremely frightened.

They both knew they had to try to save her.

They ran underneath the airships, then went to the side the girl was on.  
She was looking all around in a wild manner, as if searching for some escape. She looked down right at them, looked away, and did a double-take. She stopped crying and her scared eyes widened.

Chloe looked straight into their eyes, hoping it would have the same effect as on Peach.

It rio and Luigi back to reality as they realized the girl, who they knew now was the Lost Princess, was being taken away.

They ran as fast as they could after her, but the airships were too fast. They disappeared in the sky as the dark clouds dissolved and were immediately replaced by the blue sky underneath.

They ran to the castle and found Peach was still there. They called out to Peach to come down, and slowly, she started to come out of the castle. When she got out, she ran over to where Mario and Luigi stood and pulled them both into a group hug.

"Oh, Mario, Luigi, she's alive! I always knew she was out there somewhere! I knew she would pull through! Oh, my baby sister's alive!"  
A voice behind them said,  
"I had a feeling she was out there as well, Princess."  
"Toadsworth! I thought you were on vacation!" exclaimed Peach.

"I was, but I came back early, and then everything happened just as I was coming into Toad Town," explained Toadsworth.  
"I still can't believe she's alive, though. Can you? And she's so tall! Maybe even taller than you, Mario! And her eyes! Her eyes are BROWN! Have you ever seen brown eyes on any human here ever? Bet you haven't!"

"Now, now, let's not get into that right now. Master Mario, Master Luigi, you're up to saving the young princess, now?"

Mario and Luigi nodded and looked ready.  
"Toadsworth, I-I want to go with Mario and Luigi to rescue my sister."  
"Wh-what!? You can't go! It's far too dangerous!" Toadsworth spluttered.  
"Come on! She's my baby sister who disappeared for the last sixteen years almost! How could I not go? Please?"

Peach put on a sad puppy dog face and held it until Toadsworth snapped.  
"Oh, alright! But promise me you'll be careful, Princess! You will be careful, won't you?"  
She sighed.  
"I promise I'll be careful."  
And with that, they turned and walked away.  
Toadsworth shouted after them,  
"Goodbye and good luck! Please bring back both princesses!"

Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach were off on a new adventure again. Just what was in store for them on the long road ahead on the way to Bowser's Castle? Would they ever find and bring back the Lost Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom?…

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**HEYO! Didja like it? If so, didja like it as much as chapter 1? If so, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! If not, eh, oh well, I don't mind. Soooooo, until next time, LUV YOU ALL SO FRAGGIN MUCH!**  
**BUH-BYE!**  
**R&R PLEASE!**


	3. Chapter 3

**HI! HAPPY NEW YEEEEEAR! And about last chapter's Author's Notes, I'm really sorry about the length of those. I promise they'll never be that long again. *headdesks* Actually, I'm not working at my desk (Pshhhhhh, it's way too messy for that). I'm working on the couch in my P.J.s at five in the afternoon. Call me lazy if you want. I'll say you're absolutely correct. Flames are welcome, just, really, however much I may use it in this fic, no profanity please. (even though none of you have used profanity yet I still like to remind)**  
**Remember to... ENJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY!**  
**R&R PLEASE! THANK YOU AND HAVE AN ADEQUATELY ENJOYABLE DAY!**  
**(And on a more serious note, (WHAAAAAT!? ME? BE SERIOUS?) may we all have a successful year of Fanfiction and may you all have an amazing year full of joy!)**  
**WAIT! Forgot something: I do not own Super frickin Mario in any way, shape or form. There, Nintendo! You happy?! Now will you leave me alone and not sue me?! *sobs uncontrollably* **

Chapter 3: Ludwig

"_Why?!_" exclaimed Stella (since she knows that's her real name now that's what I'm putting) as she was herded into the castle by Bowser and two Koopa Troopas.  
Bowser replied calmly,  
"Long story short, me and my forces didn't know that you'd been born, we attacked Peach's Castle, I kidnapped you and Peach, the you part by accident, and you disappeared for no reason whatsoever for nearly fifteen frickin years. That's why."

"Well, you didn't have to kill my parents and a load of other people too."  
"Well, what's done is done."  
They had reached the door to Stella's room, and as Stella was being nudged in by the Koopas,  
she argued frustratedly,  
"Well, this is murder, Bowser. Frickin MURDER," her voice broke a little. "And you really-RAAAHHH! You know what? NEVER. FRICKIN. MIND. And you should know, I have anger issues with people I don't like. Just thought you should know."

"Well, you can bitch about it all you want in there. I don't give a crap." Bowser said as he shut the door and locked it behind Stella.  
"You suck! I hope you know that!" Stella shouted after him.  
"I think I can live with that!" she heard him shout back.

She gave a frustrated shout, slammed both her fists on the door and lay down on her bed. She suddenly remembered her iPod in her backpack which she had snuck to school. She crossed over to the desk and took it out.  
She started playing video games, and she played for about an hour before she heard a noise from outside her door.  
She looked up, suddenly alert.  
The door opened, and Ludwig Von Koopa and Bowser Jr. stood awkwardly in the doorway. Stella gave a sigh of relief that it wasn't Bowser.  
"Uh, h-hi, can I help you?" Stella said timidly.  
She had to admit, it was cool seeing them in real life.

Ludwig started, sounding slightly arrogant,  
"I'm Ludwig, the oldest an-"  
"I know who you guys are."  
"What? How?"  
"Uh, no duh! I've played some Mario games in my life!"  
"Hmph. Well, what's your name then?" Ludwig asked as he crossed his arms.

Bowser Jr. piped up, "Yeah! Papa said he kidnapped a princess that no one had seen for a long time!" Ludwig looked with an expression of exasperation on his face at his brother.  
"Well, my name is Stella Toadstool, and I'm Princess Peach's younger sister,"  
Ludwig murmured quietly,  
"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl." he suddenly looked up, alarmed, as though he hadn't meant to say those last words. He quickly said, "Uh, Stella means star in Italian, doesn't it?" while blushing deeply. Bowser Jr. snickered, making Ludwig blush deeper.  
"I think so," Stella blushed a little bit and smiled.

"I didn't know Princess Peach had a sister!" said Bowser Jr. "I thought she was an only kid."  
"Well, she's not an only kid. Anyway, why are you two here?"  
"We wanted to see you for real, why else?" Ludwig answered.  
"Dunno, just felt like asking. By the way, what do you do when you get bored here?"

"Well, what I do when I'm bored is compose a song."  
"That's a great idea! But, the thing is, I can't compose anything! I can play songs, but I can't write anything good!"  
Ludwig said to her, "I could help you, you know, if you want."  
"You'd do that? Thanks!" She crossed over to her bag and pulled out some paper and a mechanical pencil.

"I like your backpack," said Ludwig as she turned around.  
"Thanks, I like it too. Blue is my favourite colour."  
"It's my favourite colour too." replied Ludwig.  
"Really? Cool."  
"Yeah." he smiled.

(Conversation in Ludwig's perspective)

As soon as he walked in the room, he thought she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Not that he'd seen many girls in his life, just his mom, his sister, Princess Peach and Princess Daisy, but, still, she stood out. He didn't think she'd like him. She probably wouldn't.

She said timidly when she first saw them,  
"Uh, h-hi, can I help you?"  
He introduced himself, hoping he sounded confident and arrogant, like he usually was, he was told.  
"I'm Ludwig, the oldest an-"  
He was taken by surprise when she said,

"I know who you guys are."

"What? How?" he asked.  
"Uh, no duh! I've played some Mario games in my life!"  
Ludwig shrank a little on the inside.  
He quickly changed the subject.  
"Hmph. Well, what's your name then?" Before the girl could answer, his idiotic little brother, Junior, butted in suddenly, and said,

"Yeah! Papa said he kidnapped a princess that no one had seen for a long time!" He looked, wearing an expression of exasperation on his face, at his youngest brother.  
The girl answered,  
"Well, my name is Stella Toadstool, and I'm Princess Peach's younger sister."  
Ludwig thought that Stella was a beautiful name.

'A beautiful name for a beautiful girl,' he thought. He looked up out of horror and realization that he had accidentally said those words out loud. He quickly said,  
"Uh, Stella means star in Italian, doesn't it?" Junior snickered, and Ludwig felt himself blush more furiously.  
Stella answered, smiling and blushing a bit,  
"I think so."

The slightly awkward silence that followed was broken by Junior, who said excitedly,  
"I didn't know Princess Peach had a sister! I thought she was an only kid."  
Stella said to him,

"Well, she's not an only kid. Anyway, why are you two here?"  
Ludwig said,  
"We wanted to see you for real, why else?"  
"Dunno, just felt like asking. By the way, what do you do when you get bored here?"  
"Well, what I do when I get bored is compose a song."

Stella looked excited about the idea, but then said,  
"That's a great idea! But, the thing is, I can't compose anything! I can play songs, but I can't write anything good!"  
Ludwig said to her,  
"I could help you, you know, if you want."

Stella replied happily,  
"You'd do that? Thanks!" The young girl crossed over to her backpack and pulled out some paper and a mechanical pencil. He couldn't help but notice how nice her bag was. It was dark blue and black; his two favourite colours.

"I like your backpack," he said, a bit shyly.  
Stella replied,  
"Thanks, I like it too. Blue is my favourite colour."  
He told her,  
"It's my favourite colour too."  
"Really? Cool."  
"Yeah." he smiled, thinking maybe, just maybe, there was a tiny little sliver of a chance with this amazing girl.

Meanwhile, Mario, Luigi, and Peach had just reached the first castle and were making their way across the many death traps that were laid out for them to step in. They made it to the boss room and fought the [FALSE] Bowser that was waiting for them. Peach punched him in the face, knocking him into the lava. A Goomba emerged, burned all over.  
"FUCK! OWWWW! Jeez, what's your problem?!"

They emerged into a new world and set off again, in high hopes of finding Princess Peach's sister…

**Ooooooooohhh, I think someone likes someone else! (Ludwig likes Stella is what I mean, if it wasn't obvious, which it probably wasn't) Yeah, the parts with Mario Bros. and Peach are all going to be sloppy in my opinion. I just don't really enjoy writing those bits, but I feel like I'm obligated. I feel like I can't just neglect them forever! That would be mean and I don't like to be mean! Anyhoo, I'm getting off track here. Hope you enjoyed, and if you didn't, oh well, I don't mind, just get out of here and read or write something else. I think you'll really enjoy next chapter, however, that one's my favourite so far, tied with Chappie 7 (as I mentioned somewhere in last chapter's ****_extremely_**** long Author's Notes, I have these pre-written up to Chapter 7). So, yeah, TUNE IN NEXT TIME TO FIND OUT MORE STUFF. BYE.**


	4. Chapter 4

**HIII! Didja miss me? No? Well, I missed you! **  
**I'm really friggin proud of this chapter and it's my favourite! Hope it becomes your favourite too! I had a ton of fun writing this chappie, so I hope you have just as much fun reading it!**  
**Flames are welcome, only rule is no profanity. ENJOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYY! And really, if you don't, you can just leave. **  
**Yeah. **  
**I intended to make this Author's Note longer, but I don't really have anything left to say, so, let's just get on with the chapter.**  
**WAIT! How do I always forget this till last minute?! **  
**I DO NOT OWN THE SUPER MARIO FRANCHISE! NOW LEAVE THE KIND PEOPLE ALONE, NINTENDO!**  
**R&R PLEASE! Thank you for existing!**

Chapter 4: Unexpected Friends and Deep Thoughts

Two and a half hours later, in Ludwig's room, Stella and Ludwig had composed a beautiful song, a duet, on his grand piano.  
They had also talked, and laughed, and had an epic time, since the two had talked about other things besides music (even though they both really enjoy music).

They learned that they both preferred the minor scales to the major ones (music-related, I know), they were both left-handed, and they had lots of other similarities, too.  
Stella told Ludwig about her life as Chloe, and he told Stella about his life in this world, the Mushroom World and surrounding kingdoms (Sarasaland and such).  
The two became quick friends, although Ludwig was a bit arrogant.  
Stella noticed that whenever she complimented Ludwig on his piano skills, however, instead of boasting and saying stuff like,

"Of course I'm amazing!" and rude stuff like that, he would blush, smile a little bit and mumble, "Thanks…".  
What was up with that?  
Stella thought she knew, but decided to keep it to herself… for now, at least.

Just as they played the last notes in the duet they'd composed, "someone"(AKA Bowser) came storming into the room, looking angry as all hell.  
"WHY DID YOU LET HER OUT OF THE ROOM, YOU IDIOT!

"YOU DECIDED TO MAKE POINTLESS NOISE ON YOUR STUPID PIANTA OR WHATEVER IT'S CALLED, AND YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TELLING ME, YOU JUST LET ME THINK SHE'D ESCAPED!" the monstrous Koopa King paused for a moment, breathing heavily.

Stella looked over at Ludwig, who looked terrified and mortified. She felt responsible for Bowser getting so angry. After all, it was her who had left the door open, and it was her who had agreed to leave the room, when she could have asked Ludwig to go get a keyboard and bring it into the room she was being kept in. Although, Bowser shouldn't have gotten so angry over that small thing! She wasn't actually leaving the castle!

"-AND WHEN I COME UP WITH A PUNISHMENT FOR YOU, OH BOY ARE YOU GONNA REGRET THIS!"

Stella looked again at Ludwig and saw tears well up in his terrified eyes. She now felt hot anger pulsing through her veins.

"HEY!" she yelled. Bowser stopped and stared at her.  
"It's not his fault I was bored with nothing to do! You shouldn't be mad just because he was nice enough to offer me something fun and awesome to do! It sounds stupid when you hear it out loud, doesn't it? By the way, it's called a piano. Say it with me, pi-an-o. And his music isn't pointless noise! It sounds amazing! He has a gift, and you discourage it? If music is what he wants to do with his life, accept that fact and encourage him to do what he loves! So just BACK. OFF, dude."

Ludwig looked at her, a mixture of terror, relief and surprise on his face.  
Stella supposed this was because this was either going to get them out of trouble, or into WAY deeper trouble.

Bowser, on the other hand, looked angry and confused.  
Then he shook his head and…  
turned around and stormed out of the room, slamming the door really hard on his way out.

Both Stella and Ludwig just stared at the door, open-mouthed and in total shock and awe.  
After a full minute of staring, Stella closed her mouth and smiled. She gave Ludwig a little shake and he snapped back to reality, and then, after looking at each other, they both burst out into uncontrollable fits of laughter at the exact same time.

Meanwhile, Mario, Luigi, and Peach had just finished the second castle (Mario had kicked the False Bowser in the balls and he [False Bowser] went down like that. Imagine me snapping my fingers when I said that).  
The sun was setting, and they decided to set up camp in the forest near the second castle. While the twin brothers drifted off easily, the pink-clad princess lay awake, thinking. Thinking about her baby sister. Her baby sister whom she hadn't seen since the infant was a week old, and who had looked so grown up when she'd been on the airship.

Peach had missed out on seeing her little sister grow up. She went from being a tiny infant, barely old enough to grab at the air with hands she didn't even know were hers, to being an independent fourteen-year-old girl, who could read, and write, and do so many other things, just like that, it seemed.

There hadn't been a day that had gone by that Peach hadn't thought of, or missed, her baby sister, and her parents.

Her parents, who had been so horribly murdered right in front of their daughter's eyes. Her parents, the great King George and Queen Melody, who had died fighting for their kingdom.

Peach's eyes welled up and she didn't bother try and stop the tears that streamed down her cheeks and dripped onto the ground.

Then, she remembered the promise she had made to Mario.

[FLASHBACK]

_"Why, Mario? It's not fair! It's my fault she disappeared! It's my fault!" Peach cried as she sobbed into Mario's shoulder._

_The teen princess had just made the announcement to the kingdom about her sister's disappearance and her parents' murder, and the whole time Peach had been trying not to break down in tears. She had barely managed. _

_As soon as she was done her part, she ran to the forest nearby and she let the tears flow freely as she dashed to the cave. The cave where she'd always gone to play when she was young. The cave she'd almost made it to when fleeing. If only she'd been faster, Stella- God, it made her cry to even think about her- her sister wouldn't have disappeared, and she wouldn't be alone. She'd run her fastest, but her fastest wasn't good enough. It was her fault Stella had disappeared. _

_She'd arrived, quickly followed by Mario, who had been following her._

_"Peach, please calm down! It's not your fault!" Mario tried his best to calm down the princess, but he knew he wasn't very good at this kind of thing._

_"Yes it is! If I'd been able to run faster I would've gotten away and Ste- Stella would still be here and I wouldn't be alone!" Peach cried._

_"Peach! Look at me!" Mario raised his voice a little to get her attention, and it worked. She looked up at him, alarmed by the different tone of voice. Smeared mascara was running down her face, mixed in with the tears._

_"Now, I want to make this very clear: in no way at all is any of this your fault. Do you understand me?" Mario stated firmly. Peach nodded._

_"Second, I want you to know that you are never alone. You have me. You have Luigi, you have Toadsworth, and you have the entire kingdom, and we're going to get through this together." Mario told her. _

_"You're right. You're absolutely right. I don't know what I was thinking, I-" Peach was cut off as she was pulled into a deep kiss. She made a surprised sound, but soon started to kiss back. _

_Mario put one hand on the back of her head, pulling Peach in and deepening the kiss, and the other hand around her waist, while Peach wrapped her arms around his neck._

_Mario broke the kiss gently. _  
_"I love you," they both whispered at the same time._

_By this point, Peach had stopped crying, but now Mario could see tears welling up in her eyes again._

_"Peach, what's wrong?"_

_"We can't be together yet." Peach barely whispered._

_"Wait, what? Why not?" Mario, stammered, hurt and confused._

_"We just can't." was all Peach said._

_"But-but-but-"_

_"Mario, look at me." Peach gently turned his head so he was looking her right in the eye._

_"I want to be with you too. So much it hurts, in fact. I promise to you that when my sister returns, we can be together."_

_"But-but-"_

_"I promise, Mario. I know she'll come back one day. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not in fifteen years, but one day, I know she'll come back, and when that happens, we will be together."_

_Mario nodded._  
_"Okay, I understand." _

_They kissed one more time, then they went their separate ways._

[Present]

Peach smiled, tears still running down her face. Her sister had returned. And when she was reunited with Stella, she and Mario would be a couple, get married, and maybe have kids! With these comforting last thoughts, Peach fell asleep...

**So, is it now your official fave? If it is, WAY TO GO! *high-fives you* And if it isn't, WAY TO GO! * high-fives you* I think I had the most fun writing where Stella stands up to Bowser and gets them out of trouble (oh, God, why am I suddenly reminded of Dora the Explorer?!)**  
**And this is the only chapter where the part with Mario Bros. and Peach doesn't suck in my opinion. So, that's a plus! And if you thought the kissing part was bad, I'm sorry, but that was seriously my first time ever writing a kissing scene. Yeah. This is also going to be the first story I've ever written that I'm actually going to finish.**  
**You see, when I was little, I would try to write these stupid stories with the stupidest plotlines ever, and I would always intend to finish them, but then I would get bored and never finish them. **  
**Hold up, I'm getting way too far off track. If I let myself ramble much longer, this Author's Note is going to be as long as Chapter 2's. So, without further ado, **  
**BUH-BYE!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**I used to rule the world, **_  
_**seas would rise when I gave the word**_  
_**Now in the mornin' I sleep alone**_  
_**Sweep the streets I used to own**_

_**I used to roll the dice**_  
_**feel the fear in my enemy's eyes**_  
_**Listen as the crowd would sing,**_  
_**"Now the old king is dead, long live the king,"**_

_**One minute I held the key, **_  
_**next the walls were closed on me**_  
_**And I discovered that my castles stand**_  
_**Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand**_

_**I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing**_  
_**Roman cavalry choirs a-singing**_  
_**Be my mirror, my sword, and shield**_  
_**My missionaries in a foreign field**_

_**For some reason I can't explain**_  
_**Once you go, there was never, **_  
_**Never an honest word, but that was when I ruled the world...**_

**Oh, sorry, just love that song so much! Listening to it right now, in fact. And if you don't like it, please don't hate on me. You probably like some music that I don't like. Aaaaanywaaaay, I'll try to make this brief. Flames are welcome, but no profanity, 'k? K. **  
**R&R please! ENJOOOOOY! And...**  
**I really don't own Mario in any way, whatever anyone may be thinking. I just own the plotline to this fic. Thank you, everybody, and goodnight. Actually, it's only 2:45 pm for me right now, so oh well.**

**Chapter 5: A Pain in the Shin**

"Are you sure we're allowed to be doing this?" Stella asked cautiously as she and Ludwig snuck into Bowser Jr.'s bedroom the next morning.

It was around six-thirty AM.

"Relax, as long as you're with me, it's perfectly fine!" Ludwig assured her as he stood on Junior's bed and pulled down a hidden ladder, which seemed to lead out to the top of the castle.

Junior didn't seem to be in the room. '_Heh, the kid probably crashed on the sofa in his playroom watching Sesame Street again,_' Ludwig thought to himself.

About ten minutes ago, Ludwig had told Stella that there was a spectacular sunrise view on one small side of the castle, and that it looked at its best on top of the castle, and Stella had insisted on seeing it.

"Let's go!" Ludwig held out his hand to Stella, she took it, and they climbed up onto the roof of one side of the castle.  
Stella gasped in delight as she saw the view. It was the most amazing and beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

She was at a loss for words.  
"This… this is… amazing…"  
"So, you like it?" said Ludwig eagerly.  
"I… I love it!" whispered Stella.  
Ludwig smiled. He knew she would like it.

"Why don't we sit down?" offered Ludwig, gesturing to a spot where they could sit and lean back against.  
They sat down and for about fifteen minutes they watched that spectacular view before Ludwig told Stella gently, "We should probably go back now, don't you think?"  
She replied, without looking away from the beautiful view,  
"Yeah, sure, whatever…" then she stood up and, guided heavily by Ludwig, went with him back down the ladder.  
But when they got back down, there was a person sitting on the bed.

It was Bowser Jr.  
"Why were you guys up there?" he asked.  
Both Ludwig and Stella stammered, "...Uh, we were just... Um..." (et cetera, et cetera,)  
Junior looked confused for a second, then a nasty grin spread across his face.  
"You guys were making out up there, weren't you?"  
Ludwig and Stella shouted,  
"_WHAT?!_ NO!" at the same time, but Junior didn't seem to believe them.  
"Oh, just you wait, I'm gonna go tell the others! And then I'm gonna tell Papa that you technically let the girl out of the castle, and then you're gonna get into HUGE trouble!" His voice was filled with glee and he ran out of the room as fast as he could.

Stella looked at Ludwig's face, and all the color from it was gone.  
"We gotta catch him before he tells your other siblings, or worse, your dad! Come on, let's go!" Stella started pulling on Ludwig's hand.

Ludwig seemed to snap out of the trance he was in and ran with Stella after Junior.  
The youngest Koopa turned out to be difficult to catch, but finally, after about fifteen minutes, they cornered him and he gave in.

"Alright, alright! I won't tell as long as you don't tell."  
Ludwig looked confused and said,  
"As long as I don't tell what?"  
Junior suddenly smirked and said,  
"This!" before kicking him hard in his shin before zipping back to his room, giggling like a twelve-year-old girl.  
"_AUGH!_"shouted Ludwig in pain as he grabbed the shin Junior had kicked.  
"Oh my god! You okay?" asked Stella, concern in her voice.  
"Yeah, but sometimes I just hate that little twerp!" he muttered.  
"Yeah, siblings can be a huge pain."

When Stella had lived in Canada as Chloe, she had had an _annoying_ younger sister named Emmy (_HUGE_ emphasis on the annoying).  
"Oh, yeah, you were telling me about that yesterday, weren't you?" said Ludwig, the pain in his shin having subsided a little bit.  
"Yeah, I was. God, Emmy may not have been quite as annoying as Junior is, she's a REALLY close second!"  
They laughed, and after a little while of talking they heard heavy footsteps which belonged to Bowser.  
The two looked at each other with wide eyes, and ran. Ludwig ran in the direction of his room, and Stella ran in the direction of her room. She closed the door as quickly and quietly as she could, and flung herself into the bed, where she quickly pretended to be asleep, in case Bowser checked on her to see if she was sleeping. She soon actually drifted off into a peaceful sleep, and pondered when her next adventure with Ludwig would happen…

Meanwhile, Mario, Luigi and Peach had gotten up really early and had made it to the third castle in record time.  
They traversed the dangerous castle meant to try to kill them.  
Soon enough, they approached the False Bowser that was waiting for them.  
Luigi shot forward blindly, shutting his eyes tight and throwing fast punches, which knocked the beast into the lava.  
A Spiny emerged from the burning substance, cursing at the top of his lungs in pain.

The threesome exited the castle and continued on their way…

**I feel for ya, Ludwig! I know what it's like to get kicked in the shin! God, it hurts...**

**And, yeah, my endings definitely suck. And as for the parts with beating the False Bowsers, they probably suck the most, since (as I previously mentioned) I don't care for writing those bits much, therefore I feel are more sloppy and not as good. Hope you enjoyed! Go read something else if you didn't. And sorry if it was short. I wrote this on my iPod and when I was reading through it it actually looked like a decent-sized chappie, but now that I see it on a laptop I definitely see it's relatively short. Promise next chappie will be longer! **  
**So, yeah, that's pretty much it. *whistles* **  
**Um, yeah, bye.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, hellooooo! How are you? I'm sorta meh. School started back up yesterday, and I have a love-hate-indifferent relationship with school. I think it's mainly getting up early that gets me. I love band, though. I play the alto saxophone. What band instrument do you play? I considered the bass guitar and the clarinet, but in the end I decided on alto sax. **  
**I like piano better though. I've been doing piano since I was nine. I love piano. I can play the Song of Storms (Zelda), Song of Time (Zelda), Song of Healing (Zelda), and yeah, more Zelda songs. :D Song of Storms is my personal fave. So, yeah, please ENJOOOOOOYYY! And if you don't, go read something else. Flames are welcome but no frickin profanity. GOLD STARZ FOR ALL OF YOUZ FOR FOLLOWING THE RULE! *HUGZ***  
**R&R PLEASE! THANK YOU!**  
**(And, just remember, I'm not the hugest fan of the title of this, so if you have something better, then I would be full to the brim with rainbows if you suggest your idea. Thank you! 3)**

**Chapter 6: Love in the Air**

It was about 3:30 in the afternoon, (the same day as last chapter) and Stella was sitting on her bed, playing a game on her iPod, when she heard the door creak open.  
She looked up at the door, slightly alarmed, but was relieved to see Ludwig standing there, smiling awkwardly.  
"Hey, what's up?" Stella asked, smiling.  
Stella was pretty positive that Ludwig liked her, and she wasn't exactly sure, but she thought she was starting to return the feeling.  
"Just wanted to drop in, see if you're okay." Ludwig said.  
"Aw, you're sweet." Ludwig started blushing furiously upon hearing this.  
She held out her iPod. "Hey, you wanna play a game on my iPod?"  
"Sure." replied Ludwig, sitting down on the bed next to her. "What games do you have?"  
She began listing off the games she had.  
"There's Ice Cream Jump, Super Rope, Temple Run, Mega Run, Unicorn Rush, and Cut the Rope."  
Ludwig had never heard of these games, let alone played them, so he just picked one at random.  
"Uh, Temple Run, I guess."  
"Okay, have you ever played Temple Run?"  
"Uh, no, actually." Ludwig admitted.  
"Oh, that's fine, it'll show you how in the tutorial…"  
And they took turns playing Temple Run for a bit. Ludwig was becoming very good at the game, even beating Stella's high score, and her high score was really high.

But the whole time they were playing, a thought played over and over in Ludwig's mind:_ Why don't you ask her out?_

This question kept buzzing in his mind and never left him alone.

He kept trying to work up the courage to ask Stella, but whenever he opened his mouth to ask, nothing would come out, so he would try to fake a cough.

Meanwhile, a thought had been playing over and over in Stella's mind: _Why don't you ask him out?_

This question kept buzzing in her mind and never left her alone.  
She kept trying to work up the courage to ask Ludwig, but whenever she opened her mouth to ask, nothing would come out, so she would try to fake a yawn.

Stella noticed Ludwig looked like he wanted to say something, so she said timidly,  
"Hey, you look like there's something bothering you, is there?"  
Ludwig took a moment to answer, then said,  
"Well, actually, yeah, there kind of is, it's just, I don't really know how to start,"  
"That's okay, just tell me." Stella said.  
"Okay, here goes. Stella, would you like to.. To go... Go out with me sometime maybe?" Ludwig said, starting slow, but speeding up.  
Stella stared surprised at him.  
"I-It's alright of you don't want to, I'm sorry if you weren't expecting it, it's just-" he stammered quickly, alarm clearly on his face.  
"Ludwig, it's okay! I'd love to go out with you sometime! How about tonight? We can watch a movie together or something? How does seven-thirty sound?" Stella laughed.  
Ludwig looked super-surprised, and he didn't answer for a full thirty seconds before Stella shook him a little bit.  
"Ludwig? Hey, Ludwig? You there? Snap out of it! How does seven-thirty sound, I said!" she said, laughing a little bit.  
Ludwig snapped out of it, shook his head, smiled, and said,  
"Seven-thirty sounds great! You like Harry Potter?"  
"You kidding? I LOVE Harry Potter! We can watch in your room! Which one are we gonna watch?"  
"How about the Philosopher's Stone?" suggested Ludwig.  
"Philosopher's Stone it is! See you in a bit!"  
"See you," said Ludwig.

He left the room, feeling happier than he'd ever felt in his life. He just got a date with an awesome girl, and he was pretty sure that Stella liked him, because he really liked her. Or rather, he hoped she liked him. He went back to his room and started composing a happy song to express his joy.

Stella's room was nearby, and she could hear him writing his song. She smiled. She was pretty happy. She may not have asked him out, but they still had a date and that was all that mattered right now. Stella couldn't wait for seven-thirty!

_(Later, at seven-thirty…)_

Stella snuck over to Ludwig's room, really excited. She opened the door to his room, to see him sitting on his bed, waiting for her.  
"Hey, ready to watch the movie?" she said.  
"Yeah. Oh, and I made popcorn for us to share!" Ludwig gestured towards a huge bowl of popcorn.  
"Awesome! Let's get started!"  
"Sure!" He stood up, went over to the DVD player, popped the disc in, and went to sit beside Stella.  
"I love this movie, don't you?" Stella said, taking a few pieces of popcorn and popping them into her mouth.  
"Totally."

As the first scene started to play, where Dumbledore came and turned off all the street lights with his Deluminator, Ludwig put his arm around Stella.  
'_Oh, crap, what am I doing? Guys in movies and TV shows do this! Should I? What if she doesn't like it?!_' Ludwig thought frantically to himself.  
'_No, shut up! You are supposed to do this! See, she's smiling, she doesn't mind this, damn it!_' he told himself firmly.  
Stella was smiling. She did like the feeling of Ludwig's arm around her. It felt warm and nice. She leaned her head to the side so that it was resting on his shoulder.  
'_Oh, crap, what am I doing? Girls in movies and TV shows do this! Should I? What if he doesn't like it?!_' Stella thought frantically to herself.  
'_No, shut up! You are supposed to do this! See, he's smiling, he doesn't mind this, damn it!_' Stella told herself firmly.

Neither one of them was really paying attention to the movie, both of them were lost in their own thoughts, as they absent-mindedly ate away at the popcorn.

'Should I kiss her? No, no one kisses on the first date!' were some of Ludwig's thoughts, while  
'Should I be expecting a kiss? No, no one kisses on the first date!' were more Stella's thoughts.

They were both interrupted from their thoughts as they realized their hands were touching, reaching for the same piece of popcorn. They withdrew their hands quickly, both blushing furiously.

"Sorry..." they mumbled at the same time.

Ludwig was the one who noticed the movie was ending first, and shook Stella's shoulder just the tiniest bit. She realized the movie was over, thanks to Ludwig, and she stood up and started stretching her arms and legs, while Ludwig did the same.  
After a slightly awkward silence, Stella said,  
"So, what do you wanna do tomorrow?"  
"Tomorrow?" Ludwig said. "Oh, um, maybe we could watch the sunset on top of the castle?"  
"I would love that!" said Stella.  
"Great!" said Ludwig. "See you!"  
"See ya!"  
Stella waved, and left.  
Back in her room, Stella smiled. She was pretty sure Ludwig liked her, because she really liked him.  
She couldn't wait for tomorrow…

Meanwhile, Mario, Luigi, and Peach had just beaten the fourth castle, which meant they were halfway to Bowser's Castle!

Since it was getting dark, they had to set up camp for the night.  
Luigi had no trouble falling asleep, but Mario and Peach had trouble sleeping, so they stayed up and talked the whole night, until almost dawn.

They both decided to go to sleep, and Peach smiled as she fell asleep and thought,  
'_It's times like these that make me fall in love with him all over again…_'

**God, I hate this ending, but here ya go! Yeah, so, hmmm, um, BYE!1!111!1111!1!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well, HELLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'm EXCITED! The other day I beat Super Mario Galaxy w/ 120 Stars on Mario and I unlocked Luigi and I'm happy if you couldn't tell! Sorry I've been gone longer than usual, real life's gotten in the way. That or I'm lazy. Hmmmmm, both. Yeah. And it might have something to do with the fact that this is the last chappie I have pre-written! (DUN-DUN-DAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!) So, who knows how long it'll be till I post Chappie 8! Also, last night I was checking out Chappie 2, and I noticed a _gigantic, gaping hole in the chapter_, so I'm SO SORRY if you got confused! I tried fixing it, and it said the changes were successful, but then I checked it again, and IT STAYED THE SAME. Checked today. STAYED THE SAME. It has the changes in my Doc Manager, just not in the version all you Internet-Strangers have read! (BTW I call most people on the Internet "Internet-Strangers". It's a term I use, so don't be offended) So, I don't know if it just takes a while for the changes to settle in or what, but I'm a little upset. Sorry about the rant. The cereal I'm eating is delicious. It's basically a healthier, less overpoweringly sweet version of Frosted Flakes. And that was Pointless Fact About My Day No. 387! **  
**Yeah, I should just get to the point. Flames are welcome, but, really, guys, _no profanity, no profanity, no profanity_.**  
** I don't own Mario. Now shutup Nintendo. And please remember to... EEEEEEEENNNJOOOOOOY! **  
**R&R PLEASE! THANK U ALL SO MUCH! I LOVE YOU!**

**Chapter 7: Lily has Joined Your Party!**

"UUUGH... Dahell am I?" Lily's eyes opened, and her vision became slowly less blurry as she sat up, wondering where the hell she was. She stood up and looked around, immediately becoming creeped out; almost EVERYTHING had eyes: the clouds in the sky, the bushes and trees beside her, and the hills behind her.

She suddenly noticed three figures walking towards her on the path beside her. She ran behind a nearby tree, in case they were psycho murderers or something. When they got really close, Lily could see that they were three people dressed in really realistic costumes of Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach. Weird...

She couldn't help but laugh out loud at this, and at once realized her mistake. She tried making bird noises to try to cover it up, but too late; the people in costumes had heard her.

"Chirp, chirp- Aw, crap-"

They started looking in the bushes near her to see who had been making the noises.  
After about twenty seconds, the guy in the Luigi costume suddenly spotted Lily and froze.  
For some reason, she didn't feel even remotely scared, so she said,  
"Hey, I'm Lily."

Luigi-costume-guy (it's just easier if I say it like that) waved at Mario-costume-guy and Peach-costume-girl for them to come over to him. Feeling kind of awkward and uncomfortable, Lily told them, trying to start conversation,

"Uh, nice costumes! You guys look like the real thing!"  
"What do you mean, the real thing?" Mario said, confusedly.  
"Mario and everything Mario is video game fiction." stated Lily.

Luigi started, "We're not FICTION! We're real!"  
Lily was confused, but impressed.  
"Wow, nice job staying in character!"  
Mario and Peach exchanged exasperated glances.

Peach tried, shooting from a different angle this time.  
"Hey, uh, Lily, isn't it?"  
"Yeah."  
"Okay, Lily. Do you have a friend named Stella?"  
"No, but I have a friend named Chloe who was kidnapped… by… OH MY FRICKIN FRICK!" Lily suddenly yelled extremely loud.

"What? What is it?" Peach asked, her voice filled with concern and curiosity.  
"BOWSER! CHLOE WAS KIDNAPPED BY BOWSER! AND YOU GUYS ARE THE REAL THING! HOLY_ CRAP_! HOLY _CRAP_! HOLY _CRAP_!" Lily screamed all this in a very fast gibberish that no one could understand but herself.

She continued to scream like this, and Mario slowly approached Lily, put his arm around her shoulder, and said calmly, in an attempt to calm her down,

"Whoa, um, it's okay. Why don't we sit down and you can tell us what happened?"  
Lily calmed down pretty quickly, and when she did, the curly-haired girl began to tell what had happened, starting when Bowser had broken into the school bus.  
"Okay, so me, Chloe and our friend, Brylee, were on the school bus, talking, when it happened…"

Mario, Luigi and Peach listened intently to every word, and they were sure that Lily's missing friend Chloe was Stella.

"And then I woke up here and here we are now!"  
"Wow, so Stella must be Chloe, right? It really seems like it, doesn't it?" Peach said after Lily had finished her story.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Lily replied. "Wait a sec. If I'm here, does that mean Brylee's here, too?"  
"Maybe," Luigi said excitedly. "What does she look like, in case we find her?"

"Brylee has curly and frizzy blonde hair, and I think she was wearing a blue t-shirt with a chocolate cupcake on it." Lily explained. Luigi only nodded in response.

"Cool, so, now that we're all caught up, why are we wasting time? Let's go, people, let's go, let's go! FORWARD, MARCH! You there, stop slouching! Get a move on, people! HUP, TWO, THREE, FOUR, HUP, TWO, THREE, FOUR!" She was speaking like a military general.  
Mario, Luigi, and Peach just played along; Lily was obviously really excited, and so were they. They could hardly wait until they rescued Stella, especially Peach.

One thing was for sure, and that was they would definitely not be bored with this girl around…

* * *

Meanwhile, at Bowser's Castle, Stella was hurriedly getting ready for the date- or was it even a date? Maybe she would just call it the sunset. Yeah, the sunset sounded okay-  
Anyway, Stella was hurriedly getting ready for the sunset with Ludwig. She had just taken a shower and blow-dried her hair, and was now deciding what outfit to wear. (Dear God I absolutely _despise_ unintentional rhyming I'm so sorry for any suffering I may have caused you)

The only reason she had multiple outfits to choose from was because someone, probably Bowser, had provided them.

On Stella's first night at Bowser's Castle, she had been worried about wearing the same clothes every day for who knows how long, but had been pleasantly surprised when she had looked in the drawers of the big night-table in her room, for she had discovered six different stylish outfits, along with cute shoes to match each outfit, and six pairs of extremely comfortable pyjamas, complete with fluffy slippers which had bright blue and bright pink stripes.  
In the end, Stella decided to wear the outfit she had been wearing the day Bowser had kidnapped her:

A bright orange t-shirt which read Santa Cruz Pipeline '82, unzipped gray hoodie, cyan velvet jeans, and bright darkish blue sneakers.  
She was checking her appearance at the mirror in the bathroom, thinking there was something missing, when she suddenly spotted a pretty dark blue glittery bow lying on the counter.

She put it on, and now knew there was nothing missing. Now all she had to do was wait.

* * *

Ten minutes. There was ten minutes until the date- or was it even a date? Maybe he would call it the sunset. Yeah, the sunset sounded okay-  
Anyway, there was ten minutes until the sunset with Stella, and Ludwig had never been more nervous. Not even on the first date, so that was saying a ton. He glanced at the digital clock on his night-table.

Five minutes. Now Ludwig was mentally panicking. He firmly told himself to calm down, and took some deep breaths. He didn't feel so worried anymore, and he calmed down altogether.  
"Hi," chirped a familiar voice coming from the doorway, making Ludwig jump.  
"Oh! Um, hi, Stella."  
There was an awkward silence, and Stella was the first to break it.

"So, shall we go, then?" she asked.  
"Oh, uh, sure! Let's go!" Ludwig replied as he stood up, held his hand out to Stella, who took it in hers and smiled, and they silently left the room.

"Are we going the same way as last time?" inquired Stella.  
"Yeah, but I'll make sure we aren't caught."

They quickly devised a plan that went like this:

Ludwig would enter Junior's room _alone_, and if he was in there, then Ludwig would say he needed to borrow something, get a random thing, and he would leave the room and he and Stella would go another way.

Luckily, when he poked his head inside the somewhat small bedroom, no one was there.  
"It's all clear." he whispered to Stella, giving her the thumbs-up sign.  
"Okay, good." she whispered back, giving him a military salute, causing both of them to chuckle silently.

They both entered the room and Ludwig pulled down the secret ladder. They climbed up and they were just in time, for the sunset was just starting. They sat down and started watching it.  
"This is so beautiful!" Stella whispered, resting her head on Ludwig's shoulder, and Ludwig putting his arm around her, pulling her closer to him.

It was indeed beautiful. The soft pink and orange sky enveloped them in a surreal haze as the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon, and the sky commenced getting darker.

"You look amazing tonight, Stella. This light makes you look even more so than usual." Ludwig whispered softly. Stella blushed, although you wouldn't have been able to tell because of the sunset.  
"Thank you… you know, the way everything is right now makes it seem like this sunset, and everything else for that matter, belongs to only us two, like we could rule the entire kingdom…" Stella said in barely more than a whisper, dreamily, like she could fall asleep at any given moment.

"Yeah..." Ludwig said simply, in the same manner as Stella.  
The sunset was over, and they were now enveloped in soft light from the full moon above them, which was equally beautiful.

She looked up at him, her bright brown eyes staring into his dark, almost black ones.  
"Your eyes are just like the night sky above us, they twinkle just like these stars, too. Your eyes are beautiful…" she barely whispered.

"And your eyes are just like…" Ludwig stopped as their noses touched. They both closed their eyes, this moment could not have been more perfect for either of them, they were almost kissi-

"_AHA_!"  
Both abruptly turned their heads towards the entrance back into the castle to see none other than... Bowser Jr! (DUN-DUN-DAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! Sorry :P)  
"I CAUGHT YOU, I CAUGHT YOU!…" he shouted gleefully as he did a sort of dance around the entrance.

"_ARRRGH_! You! Why do you always have to come along and ruin everything!" Ludwig shouted at him, filled to the brim with embarrassment and rage.

Stella was equally angry. How dare Junior just barge in on them like that, right when they were about to kiss! The moment was absolutely perfect, and now there would never be another one like it! It was so unfair! The least he could have done was wait until they were done kissing!

"-and I just don't understand it!"  
"Aw, I'm sorry… _NOT_!" Junior taunted. "Ha ha! I'm telling, by the way, just thought you should know. BYE!" Junior tried to zip back down the entrance, but Ludwig was too quick.

He grabbed his brother round the middle and held him over the edge of the castle.  
Junior yelled out in fear as he glanced down at the fifty-foot drop below him.  
"GAHH! Put me down, you big meanie-face!" he shouted at his older brother.  
"Oh, I'm the mean one here? If you really want me to put you down, you have to _sincerely_ apologize and vow never to do anything like this ever again to me."

"Are you CRAZY?! You know I'd never do anything like that!"  
"Fine, suit yourself." Ludwig gave Junior a sudden shake, making him yell out in fear again.  
"Okay, fine! I'm really sorry and I swear I'll never do anything like this to you ever again! Please don't kill me!"

"Thank you." Ludwig turned around and dropped him back on the roof.  
Junior got up and scrambled down the entrance without another word.  
"Your brother is the most irritating person alive," said Stella quietly, a subtle hint of anger in her voice.  
"You can say that again." Ludwig laughed nervously.  
He sat back down next to Stella and sighed.  
He'd been so close! So frickin close! His siblings always ruined everything!  
Stella put her head back on Ludwig's shoulder and sighed.

She'd been so close! So frickin close! Little siblings always ruined everything!  
Eventually, though, these thoughts went away and Stella dozed off. Her breathing became softer and more even.  
Ludwig smiled as he carefully turned his head to look at her. She looked so cute when she was sleeping. Speaking of sleeping, he was starting to get tired himself.  
He slowly and carefully moved her head so it was resting on his stomach, still sound asleep. He didn't mind it in the slightest.  
Ludwig lay down, gazing up at the stars, allowing them to mesmerize him, allowing himself to fall into sleep's soft grasp...

**I'm definitely ****_not_**** used to writing romance, so if you have any pointers, I would love to hear them! So, yeah, don't know when Chappie 8'll be up, since I haven't written it yet, so bear with me! Though I have a plot bunny that won't leave me alone. I named this chapter after certain points when characters join your group in Super Paper Mario. Just saying. I love that game.**  
**One more topic before I go. Lately, I've been readin' some fanfics. Starring Ludwig von Koopa. Some were pretty good. Some were pretty bad. Most of them had Ludwig saying the 'w' noises as 'v' sounds like he's foreign or something. Stuff like 'valked' instead of 'walked'. I find that strange. If you write that way, don't feel bad, keep writing whatever way you want! **  
**I picture Ludwig as a sophisticated young Koopaling who wants to focus more on his music than helping his dad with his (constantly failing) plans to take over the Mushroom Kingdom. The only reason he helps his dad is so he gets left alone and not yelled at the rest of the time.** **And if you're wondering where the other Koopalings've been this whole time, I think they've just been trying to hinder Mario Bros. and Peach. Question answered.**  
**Yeah, that's my take on Ludwig. FUN FACTEROO: SOME OF YOU ALREADY KNOW THIS, BUT THE NAME LUDWIG IS ACTUALLY SUPPOSED TO BE PRONOUNCED LOOT-VIC. So you can't call him "Luddy" 'cause that would be irrelevant. Yeah, I'd better go, so bye.**


End file.
